Michael Gove has confirmed he is to abandon plans to replace GCSEs with a new English Baccalaureate Certificate (EBC), calling the proposal, one of his flagship schools policies, "a bridge too far" which was unlikely to work.

While Labour described the about-turn as a humiliation for the education secretary, Gove instead unveiled to the Commons a shake-up of GCSEs that he insisted would take in many elements of the EBC, including assessment by rigorous exams rather than coursework and modules. The new system will be in place for English, maths, science, history and geography for teaching in 2015, with exams two years later, the same timetable as planned for the EBC.

At the same time, Gove announced a new system to assess and rank schools, doing away with the standard league table measure of the percentage of pupils who got a C or better in five GCSEs including English and maths, which he said distorted teaching by placing too much focus on students at the crucial C/D borderline.

He also gave details of a new national curriculum, slimmed down but with a distinctly traditional approach. Pupils will be expected to focus more on spelling, grammar and arithmetic, to be able to identify cities and rivers on maps and study "the great works of the literary canon".

In his statement to MPs, which never once referred directly to the EBC, introduced only in September last year, Gove said the main sticking point had been the decision to allow only one board to set EBC papers for each subject, something officials said could bring legal challenges from boards who missed out. However, briefings before the statement suggested the policy was also sunk by Liberal Democrat opposition and a wider set of reservations expressed last year by the exams watchdog, Ofqual.

Gove told MPs he accepted the planned changes were too great: "We have consulted on those proposals and there is a consensus that the system needs to change. But one of the proposals that I put forwards was a bridge too far."

He added: "There were significant risks in trying to both strengthen qualification and to end competition in large parts of the exams market. Instead, we will concentrate on reforming existing GCSEs broadly along the lines that we put forward in September."

The new GCSEs will be assessed by exams, with extended writing tests in subjects like English and history and "fewer bite-sized and overly structured questions", Gove said. The current choice of higher and foundation tier GCSEs – the latter are easier but have a maximum grade of C – will be ended, with every pupil taking the same exams.

On assessment for schools, Gove said the "deceptively simple" measure of five good GCSEs tempted teachers and students into picking subjects seen as easy to pass, and excessive attention on the C/D border at the expense of both stronger and less able pupils, complaints long expressed by many teachers.

In its place will comes two gauges. The first is a simple one based on English and maths passes, the other a more complex, "value added" measure taking in pupils' progress up to their GCSE in eight subjects from three areas – English and maths, three subjects from the sciences, history and geography, languages and computer science; and three "additional subjects", taking in arts and "high quality vocational subjects".

This last policy appears intended to address the complaints that the EBC would focus too much attention on a narrow band of subjects, at the expense of areas such as art.

On the new curriculum, Gove said it was modelled on the heavily fact-based systems in Hong Kong and Singapore, as well as the US state of Massachusetts, which is heavily influenced by ED Hirsch, a Gove hero who argues students cannot begin to properly reason or assess until they are provided with key building blocks of raw knowledge.

The Commons response from Labour's education spokesman, Stephen Twigg, sought to emphasise the reputational damage on a minister who has was known for forcing big changes through the system, despite vehement opposition from teaching unions.

"The words 'GCSE' and 'fiasco' seem to be indelibly linked under this government," Twigg said. "This is a humiliating climbdown."

The CBI, which had previously expressed scepticism at the EBC, described the change as "sensible". Neil Carberry, its head of employment and skills policy, said: "It's pleasing to see a shift in thinking on exam league tables, which will need to encourage schools to focus on the performance of every child."

Teaching unions also welcomed the scrapping of the EBC. However, Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Headteachers, said there remained some worries about the proposed changes to GCSEs.

He added: "We also support changes to the current system of league table measurements which pin schools down to arbitrary targets and limit imaginative teaching. Measuring attainment across a combination of eight subjects, rather than five, will have a real effect on the way schools look at their pupils. Therefore, this could be a good thing but schools will need time to adapt."